Gifts for Photonerds (Photo Dork Edition)

Here’s the situation: you or someone you know is a photography geek, it’s the holiday season, and the person in question needs a gift. What do you do? Do you buy them that full-frame DSLR they’ve been dreaming about all year? Hell no! I decided to make this list of five affordable gifts for photographers to help you out. It’s all stuff you can afford and crap that they will love.

1) No photo nerd should live without a Lomography Spinner!

Throughout history most people have agreed that meat tastes pretty good. But it wasn’t until skewers came out that we realized that meat on a stick tastes even better. The Lomography Spinner 360° is basically a 35mm film camera on stick; but this is no ordinary camera. Like meat on a stick, this camera on a stick is simply better. The stick and the rip-cord enable you to take 360° images. You basically hold it where you think it will capture an interesting 360° image, and let ‘er rip! This is the sort of no-brainer gift that even non-photonerds will marvel at. This is what the pictures end up looking like:

2) Hook them up with this sweet set of ND filters!

What the heck is an ND filter? Don’t worry about that. All you need to know is that the photographnerd will beam with happiness when they get these as a present!

They may not look like much to the non-photographer (and let’s face it, these are just two-toned sheets of glass, people) but to the photonerd, these filters are titillating. You will be their hero.

3) Get them a magical golden disc

Nothing says photonerd like a collapsible circular reflector disc, especially when it has a soft gold/white opaque surface. What do you do with this disc? If you’re thinking that the photonerd hurls it across a field like an Olympic god, you’re wrong. They’re used to reflect light, and add “color casts” to people and objects. Oi vey. What a bunch of dweebs.

Full disclosure: I own one of these and it warms the cockles of my gear-nerd heart every time I use it. Bounce boards like the Impact 5-in-1 22 inch Reflector disc are great. Technology wise, they’re refreshingly dumb (they bounce light—pretty dang simple). And considering they’re essentially lifeless inanimate objects, they do a heck of a job making a picture look prettier.

4) Get them a rad instant film camera!

Who says Polaroid film is dead? Okay… the company called Polaroid announced its death back in 2008. But, gosh darn it, they were wrong! Instant film cameras are alive and kicking. You can totally surprise your photonerd with one of these bad boys. It’s almost as cool as giving them their own personal zombie as a present.

If you think they’d prefer an understated camera with a black body, the Fujifilm Instax 210 is a good way to go. It takes full color wide-format instant photos and runs on 4 AA batteries. If you go this route, it’s also a good idea to hook them up with a couple packs of this Fujifilm Instax 200 Color Print film, which supplies them with two 10 packs of film.

If they’re more of a funk master, they may enjoy this white Fujifilm Instax Mini 25 a little better. Fuji claims that this model has “retro” styling, which makes sense only if you associate it with the hit 70’s TV series Mork & Mindy. If you get this one, buy a couple extra packs of Fujifilm Instax Mini Picture Format Instant Film. Then you can shake it, shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picture.

5) Completely psych them out with this fake Canon lens drinking cup

No, it’s not a fast prime or an ultra wide angle with barely any vignetting. This, my friends, is little more than a chocolate milk container. It’s the spoiled adult version of a sippy cup. Your photonerd can fill this with a frosty beverage, stare out the window and continue to daydream about that full-frame DSLR they wanted. Best of all, this beauty is only $20 at Amazon.com.

I hope this article was helpful. If you know someone who could use it, or if you want someone to buy you some of the stuff in this list, you can just send them the link to this post by copying and pasting this URL:

https://www.sam-mallery.com/archives/854

Thanks for checking out this post! Happy holidays everybody!